Song 1 | TNotes | STEP | Book of Song of Songs — Quick facts: Purpose: To celebrate God’s gifts of love and sexuality Author: Solomon; other possible contributors Date: Unknown, but after 971 BC Setting: The book is associated with Solomon’s reign, but its lack of clear plotline discredits any strong identification of setting Book of Song of Songs — Overview: Setting As a song of mutual human love, the Song of Songs is unique in the Bible. It is composed of the speeches of its characters, primarily an unnamed young man and an unnamed young woman. There is no narrator. Though the subject matter is not unique in the Old Testament, the intense and exclusive focus on it certainly is. Other ancient Near Eastern literature, primarily Egyptian, has similar songs of admiration and intense desire in which the lover’s physical attributes are extolled and direct invitations to enjoy them are given. The Song of Songs is associated with Solomon, David’s son and the third king of Israel (see “Authorship” below; see also 1:1 ). Solomon is also mentioned in a few of the poems, both negatively and positively. The motivation of the author was apparently to celebrate God’s good gift of love and sexuality. Authorship The superscription (first line of text) calls the work, literally, “The Song of Songs of Solomon.” Many take this to mean that Solomon wrote the book in its entirety. One difficulty with viewing Solomon as the only author is that some of the Hebrew words appear to be foreign loanwords from Aramaic and Persian, which would have presumably come from a later era than that of Solomon, when Persian culture was more widespread. However, it is possible that these words were in use during Solomon’s era. Solomon was the first truly cosmopolitan king of Israel, so it would not be surprising if he used foreign loanwords. Another problem with accepting Solomon as the sole author is that he was not a good example of godly love—it was precisely his love for many foreign women that led him away from the Lord (1 Kgs 11:1-13 ). In fact, the only positive reference to Solomon in the Song is in Song 3:6-11 ; meanwhile, 8:11-12 presents him negatively and 1:5 is neutral. It is possible that Solomon did not compose the entire Song, but only part of it—especially if the Song is viewed as a poetic anthology. In this view, Solomon’s authorship of the Song might be similar to his authorship in the book of Proverbs and David’s authorship in the Psalms. On the other hand, Solomon might have written of himself in a self-deprecating tone. Interpreting the Song Serious study of the Song of Songs requires a humble, open spirit because of two very significant matters that are usually straightforward in other biblical books but are very obscure here: (1) It is difficult to find a story line in these eight chapters, and (2) if the Song is a story, it is not easy to identify the main characters and their relationships. Early Interpretation (up to the 1800s). The earliest surviving comments on the Song, provided by Rabbi Aqiba around AD 100, demonstrate Judaism’s ambivalence about the message of the Song. The rabbi famously stated: “Whoever sings the Song of Songs with a tremulous voice in a banquet hall and [so] treats it as a sort of ditty has no share in the world to come.” Some people clearly understood the Song’s imagery as sexual. Aqiba censured this interpretation of the Song, even damning those who held it. Aqiba declared, “All the ages are not worth the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel; for all the Writings are holy, but the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies.” Aqiba thus indicated his understanding of the book as an allegory. The man and the woman are not seen as a real man and woman, but as representing God and Israel. Likewise, the Aramaic Targum (interpretive paraphrase) of the Song presents it as the story of God’s relationship with Israel from the Exodus to the future reign of the Messiah. This allegorical view represents the predominant Jewish and Christian interpretation of the Song from Aqiba’s time through the mid-1800s. Early Christian interpreters, such as Origen ( AD 185–253) and Jerome ( AD 347–420), adopted the allegorical interpretation but identified the man as Jesus Christ and the woman as the individual Christian or the church as a whole. Although the details regarding the individual elements within the book varied greatly among Jewish and Christian interpreters, allegorical interpretation was determinative. The allegorical interpretation of the Song is found in Catholic writers as well as in the writings of the Reformers, including John Calvin, John Wesley, and the Westminster Assembly. Recent Interpretations (1800s to the present). In the 1800s the allegorical interpretation began to lose followers. It became increasingly clear that the only reason to deny the Song’s obvious references to sexuality was the deep-seated but unbiblical idea that physical love and spiritual life are polar opposites. This idea came more from Greek philosophy than from the Bible itself. The Bible text itself never suggests that the images of the Song were intended as anything but sensual and romantic. Furthermore, archaeology recovered much from the ancient cultures of Egypt and Mesopotamia. Egypt produced love poetry similar to the Song that could only be understood as human love poetry. There was thus a decisive shift from allegorical interpretation to an understanding of the Song as love poetry. Today it is generally agreed that the Song speaks God’s wisdom into this important area of our lives as human beings: It affirms and celebrates God’s good gift of love and sexuality in the context of marriage. The Song as a Love Story. Many scholars understand these poems as a drama telling a story, either about two lovers or about a woman and two men. If only a couple is present, the characters are usually understood to be King Solomon and a young woman, and the entire poem is their conversation with each other. If it is a triangle, there is a second man whom the woman loves. In this case, Solomon is trying to force the woman to leave her true lover and enter his harem, but she remains faithful and true to her lover. The main drawbacks of the dramatic perspective are: (1) There is no narrator to guide the reading of the story, and (2) there are many different possible stories, and every interpreter seems to see a different story. The Song as a Two-Character Drama. Some interpreters understand the Song as a drama of King Solomon’s love affair with a woman. According to this view, the entire poem is a conversation between Solomon and the woman he loves more than all of the other queens and concubines in his harem. If there was a favored woman in Solomon’s life, the Scriptures suggest that she was Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he married very early (1 Kgs 3:1 ; 7:8 ; 9:24 ; 11:1 ), not the working woman from the king’s flocks and vineyards who is pictured in the Song. Furthermore, this song of true love is not very credible if the woman was one of the scores of Solomon’s women who are mentioned in Song 6:8 . In other words, if this romance between Solomon and the woman was of such deep sincerity, why did Solomon add hundreds of other women to his harem? The Song as a Three-Character Drama. Noting the difficulties with the two-character story line, several recent scholars have become convinced that the Song actually describes a three-character drama. This would suggest a more complicated plot: The woman actually loves a shepherd, not the king, but unfortunately she finds herself in Solomon’s harem as a concubine, probably because she is unable to pay a debt of one thousand pieces of silver, which she owes as caretaker of the king’s vineyards (8:11-12 ). She is unable to pay because her angry brothers have forced her to take care of vineyards other than her own (1:6 ). So even though she is in the very close and potentially intimate presence of the king in the city palace (1:12 ), her passionate thoughts are set intently on her love for a common shepherd in the countryside (1:7 ). This fervent affection drives her to escape with her true love into the country where they declare their mutual love to one another in marriage. Three separations of the couple are recounted in the song, and the agony of isolation from each other is just as intense as their ecstasy when together. After the woman escapes and lives with her shepherd husband, she is able to hire caretakers to harvest her crop and pay off the debt to Solomon. Now she and her beloved are forever free to continue living and loving together in the countryside (8:12-14 ). The Song as an Anthology of Love Poetry. Some scholars have concluded that approaching the Song as a drama imposes a story on the book that is not really there. These interpreters believe that the Song of Songs is an anthology of love poems that do not tell a story, but rather evoke a mood. The poems use imagery to express the poets’ understanding of human sexuality. In this way, the Song is similar to the book of Psalms, except that all the poems have to do with love between a man and a woman. From this perspective, the Song of Songs is composed of some twenty love poems that are bound together by consistency of characters, refrains, repeated images, and other poetic binding devices. The main criticism of viewing the Song as merely a poetic anthology is that the Song exhibits a greater unity and development than is usual for such a collection. There is repetition and development of poetic themes, and there seems to be growth in the couple’s relationship. Those who view the Song as a story or drama would argue that the anthology view fails to take this into account. Even if the Song is not a story per se, it certainly seems to have a structure and coherence that transcends the individual stanzas of poetry. However, those who view it as an anthology rather than a story generally do take into account the unity and development in the Song. They view the Song like a concerto or symphony in which themes repeat and build without actually uncovering a narrative or plot. Conclusion. Each of these interpretive approaches has its challenges. The approach of the study notes here is (1) to point out different elements in the book that might contribute to a story line or to our understanding of its structure as an anthology and (2) to discuss the possible meaning of individual scenes and images. Marriage in the Song The man and woman in the Song of Songs speak in the most romantic terms, describing sensuous longings and alluding to an intimate physical relationship. However, they are never explicitly described as married, leading some readers to suggest that the Song is an example of unmarried love in the Bible. Such a reading ignores obvious allusions to the true marriage relationship between the man and the woman. The language of some of the passages clearly indicates that the couple is married. For example, the man occasionally refers to the woman as his “bride” (e.g., 4:8-12 ). Even more importantly, viewing the couple as unmarried though sexually intimate does not take into account the context of the Song. In the context of ancient Israel, it is essentially unfathomable that this couple would not be married when engaged in such an intimate relationship. A study of Old Testament history (see Gen 39 ), law (see Exod 20:14 ), and wisdom literature (see Prov 5–7 ) makes it clear that sexual relations were only tolerated within the legal commitment of marriage. It would be quite strange for this book to be preserved alongside the other books of Jewish Scripture if it promoted sexual activity outside of marriage. Thus it is most natural to understand this couple as being married, at least in those passages where they are found in intimate embrace. Meaning and Message Many people have questioned whether the Song of Songs, with its overtly sensual imagery, belongs in Holy Scripture. But this poem is a wonderful celebration of one of God’s good and holy gifts. The Bible does not envision human beings as intangible souls temporarily encased in a body; rather, body and soul are interconnected aspects of a single entity. The body is important, and sexuality is sacred and good when enjoyed within marriage. Human Intimacy. Intense love and the appropriateness of voicing that love in words of physical attraction and fulfillment is the central theme of the Song. Yet it is clear that the lovers’ relationship is not merely physical. While their relationship certainly includes the sensual enjoyment of each other, it also includes friendship and a desire to be with each other for more than sexual reasons. As human love poetry, the Song plays a crucial role in the Bible. Love and its physical expression are major aspects of the human experience, and God has spoken through the Song to encourage us and warn us about the power of sexuality in our lives. Here we have wonderful wisdom from God describing the beauty of a wholesome sexual relationship between a woman and a man. According to the Song, sexual intimacy in marriage should be mutual, exclusive, complete, and beautiful. The book encourages intimate, passionate love between a man and a woman who have committed themselves to each other. 1:1 This verse is the source of the English title of the book. Formally, it is a superscription that functions as the title page of the book, providing the genre (song) and a connection with the probable author of some or all of the book (see Song of Songs Book Introduction, “Authorship”). The NLT rightly understands song of songs as a Hebrew superlative, so this song is the highest, best, or most sublime, which probably means that it is more wonderful than any other of Solomon’s 1,005 songs (see 1 Kgs 4:32 ).

Book of Song of Songs — Quick facts:

Purpose: To celebrate God’s gifts of love and sexuality

Author: Solomon; other possible contributors

Date: Unknown, but after 971 BC

Setting: The book is associated with Solomon’s reign, but its lack of clear plotline discredits any strong identification of setting

Book of Song of Songs — Overview:

Setting
As a song of mutual human love, the Song of Songs is unique in the Bible. It is composed of the speeches of its characters, primarily an unnamed young man and an unnamed young woman. There is no narrator. Though the subject matter is not unique in the Old Testament, the intense and exclusive focus on it certainly is. Other ancient Near Eastern literature, primarily Egyptian, has similar songs of admiration and intense desire in which the lover’s physical attributes are extolled and direct invitations to enjoy them are given.
The Song of Songs is associated with Solomon, David’s son and the third king of Israel (see “Authorship” below; see also 1:1 ^a). Solomon is also mentioned in a few of the poems, both negatively and positively. The motivation of the author was apparently to celebrate God’s good gift of love and sexuality.

Authorship
The superscription (first line of text) calls the work, literally, “The Song of Songs of Solomon.” Many take this to mean that Solomon wrote the book in its entirety.
One difficulty with viewing Solomon as the only author is that some of the Hebrew words appear to be foreign loanwords from Aramaic and Persian, which would have presumably come from a later era than that of Solomon, when Persian culture was more widespread. However, it is possible that these words were in use during Solomon’s era. Solomon was the first truly cosmopolitan king of Israel, so it would not be surprising if he used foreign loanwords.
Another problem with accepting Solomon as the sole author is that he was not a good example of godly love—it was precisely his love for many foreign women that led him away from the Lord (1 Kgs 11:1-13 ^b). In fact, the only positive reference to Solomon in the Song is in Song 3:6-11 ^c; meanwhile, 8:11-12 ^d presents him negatively and 1:5 ^e is neutral. It is possible that Solomon did not compose the entire Song, but only part of it—especially if the Song is viewed as a poetic anthology. In this view, Solomon’s authorship of the Song might be similar to his authorship in the book of Proverbs and David’s authorship in the Psalms. On the other hand, Solomon might have written of himself in a self-deprecating tone.

Interpreting the Song
Serious study of the Song of Songs requires a humble, open spirit because of two very significant matters that are usually straightforward in other biblical books but are very obscure here: (1) It is difficult to find a story line in these eight chapters, and (2) if the Song is a story, it is not easy to identify the main characters and their relationships.
Early Interpretation (up to the 1800s). The earliest surviving comments on the Song, provided by Rabbi Aqiba around AD 100, demonstrate Judaism’s ambivalence about the message of the Song. The rabbi famously stated: “Whoever sings the Song of Songs with a tremulous voice in a banquet hall and [so] treats it as a sort of ditty has no share in the world to come.” Some people clearly understood the Song’s imagery as sexual. Aqiba censured this interpretation of the Song, even damning those who held it. Aqiba declared, “All the ages are not worth the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel; for all the Writings are holy, but the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies.” Aqiba thus indicated his understanding of the book as an allegory. The man and the woman are not seen as a real man and woman, but as representing God and Israel. Likewise, the Aramaic Targum (interpretive paraphrase) of the Song presents it as the story of God’s relationship with Israel from the Exodus to the future reign of the Messiah.
This allegorical view represents the predominant Jewish and Christian interpretation of the Song from Aqiba’s time through the mid-1800s. Early Christian interpreters, such as Origen (AD 185–253) and Jerome (AD 347–420), adopted the allegorical interpretation but identified the man as Jesus Christ and the woman as the individual Christian or the church as a whole. Although the details regarding the individual elements within the book varied greatly among Jewish and Christian interpreters, allegorical interpretation was determinative. The allegorical interpretation of the Song is found in Catholic writers as well as in the writings of the Reformers, including John Calvin, John Wesley, and the Westminster Assembly.
Recent Interpretations (1800s to the present). In the 1800s the allegorical interpretation began to lose followers. It became increasingly clear that the only reason to deny the Song’s obvious references to sexuality was the deep-seated but unbiblical idea that physical love and spiritual life are polar opposites. This idea came more from Greek philosophy than from the Bible itself. The Bible text itself never suggests that the images of the Song were intended as anything but sensual and romantic.
Furthermore, archaeology recovered much from the ancient cultures of Egypt and Mesopotamia. Egypt produced love poetry similar to the Song that could only be understood as human love poetry.
There was thus a decisive shift from allegorical interpretation to an understanding of the Song as love poetry. Today it is generally agreed that the Song speaks God’s wisdom into this important area of our lives as human beings: It affirms and celebrates God’s good gift of love and sexuality in the context of marriage.
The Song as a Love Story. Many scholars understand these poems as a drama telling a story, either about two lovers or about a woman and two men. If only a couple is present, the characters are usually understood to be King Solomon and a young woman, and the entire poem is their conversation with each other. If it is a triangle, there is a second man whom the woman loves. In this case, Solomon is trying to force the woman to leave her true lover and enter his harem, but she remains faithful and true to her lover.
The main drawbacks of the dramatic perspective are: (1) There is no narrator to guide the reading of the story, and (2) there are many different possible stories, and every interpreter seems to see a different story.
The Song as a Two-Character Drama. Some interpreters understand the Song as a drama of King Solomon’s love affair with a woman. According to this view, the entire poem is a conversation between Solomon and the woman he loves more than all of the other queens and concubines in his harem.
If there was a favored woman in Solomon’s life, the Scriptures suggest that she was Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he married very early (1 Kgs 3:1 ^f; 7:8 ^g; 9:24 ^h; 11:1 ⁱ), not the working woman from the king’s flocks and vineyards who is pictured in the Song. Furthermore, this song of true love is not very credible if the woman was one of the scores of Solomon’s women who are mentioned in Song 6:8 ^j. In other words, if this romance between Solomon and the woman was of such deep sincerity, why did Solomon add hundreds of other women to his harem?
The Song as a Three-Character Drama. Noting the difficulties with the two-character story line, several recent scholars have become convinced that the Song actually describes a three-character drama. This would suggest a more complicated plot: The woman actually loves a shepherd, not the king, but unfortunately she finds herself in Solomon’s harem as a concubine, probably because she is unable to pay a debt of one thousand pieces of silver, which she owes as caretaker of the king’s vineyards (8:11-12 ^k). She is unable to pay because her angry brothers have forced her to take care of vineyards other than her own (1:6 ^l). So even though she is in the very close and potentially intimate presence of the king in the city palace (1:12 ^m), her passionate thoughts are set intently on her love for a common shepherd in the countryside (1:7 ⁿ). This fervent affection drives her to escape with her true love into the country where they declare their mutual love to one another in marriage. Three separations of the couple are recounted in the song, and the agony of isolation from each other is just as intense as their ecstasy when together. After the woman escapes and lives with her shepherd husband, she is able to hire caretakers to harvest her crop and pay off the debt to Solomon. Now she and her beloved are forever free to continue living and loving together in the countryside (8:12-14 ^o).
The Song as an Anthology of Love Poetry. Some scholars have concluded that approaching the Song as a drama imposes a story on the book that is not really there. These interpreters believe that the Song of Songs is an anthology of love poems that do not tell a story, but rather evoke a mood. The poems use imagery to express the poets’ understanding of human sexuality. In this way, the Song is similar to the book of Psalms, except that all the poems have to do with love between a man and a woman.
From this perspective, the Song of Songs is composed of some twenty love poems that are bound together by consistency of characters, refrains, repeated images, and other poetic binding devices.
The main criticism of viewing the Song as merely a poetic anthology is that the Song exhibits a greater unity and development than is usual for such a collection. There is repetition and development of poetic themes, and there seems to be growth in the couple’s relationship. Those who view the Song as a story or drama would argue that the anthology view fails to take this into account. Even if the Song is not a story per se, it certainly seems to have a structure and coherence that transcends the individual stanzas of poetry. However, those who view it as an anthology rather than a story generally do take into account the unity and development in the Song. They view the Song like a concerto or symphony in which themes repeat and build without actually uncovering a narrative or plot.
Conclusion. Each of these interpretive approaches has its challenges. The approach of the study notes here is (1) to point out different elements in the book that might contribute to a story line or to our understanding of its structure as an anthology and (2) to discuss the possible meaning of individual scenes and images.

Marriage in the Song
The man and woman in the Song of Songs speak in the most romantic terms, describing sensuous longings and alluding to an intimate physical relationship. However, they are never explicitly described as married, leading some readers to suggest that the Song is an example of unmarried love in the Bible. Such a reading ignores obvious allusions to the true marriage relationship between the man and the woman. The language of some of the passages clearly indicates that the couple is married. For example, the man occasionally refers to the woman as his “bride” (e.g., 4:8-12 ^p).
Even more importantly, viewing the couple as unmarried though sexually intimate does not take into account the context of the Song. In the context of ancient Israel, it is essentially unfathomable that this couple would not be married when engaged in such an intimate relationship. A study of Old Testament history (see Gen 39 ^q), law (see Exod 20:14 ^r), and wisdom literature (see Prov 5–7 ^s) makes it clear that sexual relations were only tolerated within the legal commitment of marriage. It would be quite strange for this book to be preserved alongside the other books of Jewish Scripture if it promoted sexual activity outside of marriage. Thus it is most natural to understand this couple as being married, at least in those passages where they are found in intimate embrace.

Meaning and Message
Many people have questioned whether the Song of Songs, with its overtly sensual imagery, belongs in Holy Scripture. But this poem is a wonderful celebration of one of God’s good and holy gifts. The Bible does not envision human beings as intangible souls temporarily encased in a body; rather, body and soul are interconnected aspects of a single entity. The body is important, and sexuality is sacred and good when enjoyed within marriage.
Human Intimacy. Intense love and the appropriateness of voicing that love in words of physical attraction and fulfillment is the central theme of the Song. Yet it is clear that the lovers’ relationship is not merely physical. While their relationship certainly includes the sensual enjoyment of each other, it also includes friendship and a desire to be with each other for more than sexual reasons.
As human love poetry, the Song plays a crucial role in the Bible. Love and its physical expression are major aspects of the human experience, and God has spoken through the Song to encourage us and warn us about the power of sexuality in our lives. Here we have wonderful wisdom from God describing the beauty of a wholesome sexual relationship between a woman and a man. According to the Song, sexual intimacy in marriage should be mutual, exclusive, complete, and beautiful. The book encourages intimate, passionate love between a man and a woman who have committed themselves to each other.
1:1 ^t This verse is the source of the English title of the book. Formally, it is a superscription that functions as the title page of the book, providing the genre (song) and a connection with the probable author of some or all of the book (see Song of Songs Book Introduction, “Authorship”). The NLT rightly understands song of songs as a Hebrew superlative, so this song is the highest, best, or most sublime, which probably means that it is more wonderful than any other of Solomon’s 1,005 songs (see 1 Kgs 4:32 ^u).
Summary for Song 1:2-14: 1:2-14 ^v The Song begins with the woman’s expression of desire for intimate union with the man she loves. In the Song, the woman is frequently the one who initiates relationship. The members of the chorus (identified in the NLT as “Young Women of Jerusalem”) affirm her choice of this man.

• According to the three-character dramatic interpretation, the Song opens by explaining the woman’s predicament. The king is about to take her into his palace, but her true passions lie with her shepherd lover. The woman hopes that her lover will rescue her from the king’s presence (1:4 ^w). 1:2 ^x Kiss me and kiss me again: The woman longs for the touch and taste of kisses from her true love. From the very start we find that the young woman and the man share a strong attraction. Their relationship is one of mutual respect and loving concern.

• Love is a sensual experience in the Song. The taste of love is sweeter than wine, a rich and sensuous liquid; love, like wine, also leaves its partaker slightly light-headed.
1:3 ^y The fragrance of the man’s cologne suggests sweet smells of love, indicating that the woman wants to get physically closer to him.

• all the young women love you: The young man’s allure is not only physical. He has an excellent reputation—the chorus of women expresses their respect and adoration for him in 1:4 ^z. By highlighting the attention he receives from other women, the woman makes it clear that her love is not blind, and that she feels fortunate to be the one whose love the man returns.
1:4 ^aa Take me with you: The two lovers are very active throughout the Song, traveling through the hills, to the city, and out to the country. This time the woman invites the man to take her away with him, and urgently expresses her desire (let’s run!). According to the three-character dramatic view, they may be running to escape the king, who has brought the young woman into his palace.

• The king has brought me into his bedroom (literally into his rooms): A common interpretation of this clause is that the woman is anticipating an intimate relationship with King Solomon. However, though a literal Hebrew translation indicates that she has been brought into Solomon’s rooms, it does not specify which rooms she was taken into. Nor does the Hebrew imply that it was her personal desire.

• The text changes here from the second person (“you”) to the third person (“his”), which might indicate that two different men are involved—one being spoken to, the other being spoken about. In that case, it is possible that the woman desires to run because she does not want to be the king’s concubine.

• If the Song is a collection of love songs without a narrative thread, it is not problematic for the lover to be identified here as the king and later as a shepherd (e.g., 1:7 ^ab): (1) The language may or may not be intended literally; (2) these titles, consistent with other ancient Middle Eastern love poetry, may reflect the woman’s view of her lover at a particular time (e.g., by indicating that he is a king in her eyes); or (3) different poems may refer to different couples.

• The woman frequently addresses the young women of Jerusalem (e.g., 2:7 ^ac; 3:5 ^ad). They are portrayed as close, trusted friends who are fond of the woman and responsive to her requests. She often confides in them about her lover, and they commend the couple from their outside perspective (e.g., 5:1 ^ae, 9 ^af).

• O king is not in the Hebrew; its addition reflects the view that the young man is the king rather than a shepherd.
Summary for Song 1:5-11: 1:5-11 ^ag If the Song is a three-character drama and the shepherd is her lover, the couple was apart while she was in the king’s palace, and in this passage she wants to be sure of where to find him when she leaves there. On two occasions, she is frantic about losing him again (3:1-4 ^ah; 5:2-8 ^ai). At other times, her concern is more subtle (2:14 ^aj).
Summary for Song 1:5-6: 1:5-6 ^ak The woman’s dark skin color has nothing to do with her race; her complexion has been darkened by the sun. Even so, she retains her self-respect and asserts her beauty. She is wholesome-looking from tending vineyards and goats (see also 1:8 ^al).

• Solomon had caretakers of his fields, vineyards, herds, and flocks; the herders lived in dark goats’-hair tents.
1:6 ^am my own vineyard: The NLT interprets vineyard as a metaphor for the woman’s own body (cp. 2:15 ^an; 7:12 ^ao). In ancient Near Eastern societies, brothers protected sisters from premature intimate relationships with men. The woman’s protest reflects her belief that she is ready for love (see also 8:8-12 ^ap, the only other mention of the brothers).

• The dramatic view takes vineyard literally: The brothers’ abuse had resulted in the woman’s inability to take care of the vineyards for which she was personally responsible. She found herself in Solomon’s harem because she had not been able to pay Solomon the money she owed him (8:11-12 ^aq).
Summary for Song 1:7-8: 1:7-8 ^ar leading your flock: In the dramatic view, the woman’s lover and his friends are literal shepherds, not a line of work or the company that one would associate with King Solomon at any time in his life.

• like a prostitute (literally like a veiled woman): Prostitutes wore veils to hide their identities (Gen 38:14-16 ^as). Since the woman has been claimed by Solomon as a concubine, she has reason to shroud herself and avoid being obvious. She wants to avoid having to ask everyone around her for the location of someone she loves (cp. Song 3:3 ^at; 5:6-7 ^au). She wants to find him privately during the resting period at noon so they can enjoy the time together.
1:8 ^av The man’s first words in this poem lovingly pacify the woman’s anxiety by giving directions to where she should meet him.

• The man desires to be with her and tells her to come under the guise of a goatherd, following the trail of his flock.
1:9 ^aw The shepherd frequently calls the woman darling (literally companion) to show his respect for her as a partner and friend as well as a lover (1:15 ^ax; 2:2 ^ay, 10 ^az, 13 ^ba; 4:1 ^bb, 7 ^bc; 5:2 ^bd; 6:4 ^be).

• In the ancient Near East, a charge of horsemen on stallions was sometimes diverted by letting loose a mare in heat. This so distracted the attacking horses that they broke the charge. Similarly, the woman’s beauty drives other men to distraction.
Summary for Song 1:10-11: 1:10-11 ^bf The woman’s beauty is enhanced by her jewelry. This beauty deserves to be even further ornamented, so the man says that even more jewelry will be provided for her (cp. Matt 13:12 ^bg).
Summary for Song 1:12-14: 1:12-14 ^bh In the dramatic view, it appears that although the woman is physically in the king’s palace (1:4 ^bi, 12 ^bj), her heart is with her shepherd lover (1:13-14 ^bk).

• In the anthology view, this is a short poem on intimate fragrances. 1:12 ^bl The meaning of the word translated couch is uncertain, and the word lying is not found in the Hebrew, so the king and the woman could be lying together on a couch or bed, or simply sitting at a table in one of the palace rooms.

• The interpretation that sees the Song as a collection of love songs is not concerned with whether the man is literally a king.
1:13 ^bm Myrrh is extracted from the branches of a fragrant shrub that did not grow in Israel, but was imported from Arabia and India at extravagant cost. The sachet is a little packet of sweet-smelling myrrh. The woman’s desire for intimacy is expressed by comparing her lover to the sachet lying between her breasts.

• According to the three-character dramatic view, the woman is with the king in one of his palace rooms, but the fragrance of myrrh between her breasts fondly reminds her of her shepherd lover who is truly there, closer to her heart than the king.
1:14 ^bn The woman thirsts for the sincere love of her man the way a traveler would thirst for the water of En-gedi, an oasis in the wilderness west of the Dead Sea.

• Henna is an aromatic shrub from the region around En-gedi; its blossoms were used for red hair dye.
Summary for Song 1:15-2:7: 1:15–2:7 ^bo The couple exchange adoring descriptions of each other that honor her incomparable beauty and praise his stalwart protection and provision for her. 1:15 ^bp The comparison of the woman’s eyes with doves (see also 4:1 ^bq; 5:12 ^br) is not clear. The metaphor may be commenting on their color or on a softness of expression.
Summary for Song 1:16-17: 1:16-17 ^bs grass is our bed ... branches are the beams ... firs are the rafters: The lovers imagine that their luxurious surroundings of grass and overhanging trees are their house. She does not need the royal, palatial surroundings of a king since these God-created natural surroundings are more than enough for her and her true lover.

• In a number of the poems the countryside is the place of happy intimacy. The man and the woman make their bed in the great outdoors and enjoy each other’s company.